Tories' carbon pricing proposal the lesser of two evils, Moe says

In Premier Scott Moe's ideal world, there would be no carbon tax on fuel.

But if forced to pick, he'd take the just-announced Conservative plan over the Liberal approach he's railed against for years.

Moe, who opposes broad-based carbon taxation as ineffective and “job-killing,” was far less critical of federal Conservative Leader Erin O'toole's announcement on Thursday that his party would replace the current carbon pricing system with a different scheme at a lower price if elected.

“I would choose neither of them, to be clear,” Moe said. “But if I have to choose between the two platforms, there's one that is less than a third of the cost; there's one that returns the dollars to the folks that actually spent those dollars — that's the one that we'd have to choose.”

That refers to the Conservative Party's proposed system, which would transfer money consumers pay on fuel into an account they could use to fund environmentally friendly purchases, like a bike or bus pass. It would start at $20 per tonne of emissions and rise no higher than $50 per tonne, considerably lower than expected under the Liberal plan.

Moe argued that O'toole's plan would reduce the “competitive disadvantage” of Liberal carbon pricing, which leaves those who use more fuel paying more, while those who reduce their energy consumption can benefit by tax refunds that exceed their costs. Moe called it “wealth redistribution.”

NDP Leader Ryan Meili argued that it's typical of the Saskatchewan Party to criticize Liberals while sparing Conservatives.

He said Moe could have developed a made-in-saskatchewan plan that met federal requirements and better protected Saskatchewan's industries. Meili suggested that, based on the preliminary sense he has of the Conservative plan, he prefers the flexibility inherent in the Liberal system.

Ottawa's tax only snaps into place if provincial governments fail to design a sufficiently stringent system, leaving provinces latitude on specifics.

“I absolutely prefer that provinces have the flexibility to design their own,” said Meili. “That's something Mr. O'toole will need to clarify.”

Despite the fact that every major federal party now supports carbon pricing in some form, Moe didn't accept debate on the issue is now at an end. “The debate is never over in politics,” he said.